Boston officials have embarked on an effort to rezone the Newmarket industrial district amid a boom in demand for distribution and biomanufacturing space. But they face a difficult balancing act as they do so.
As Steve Adams details in his story this week, Newmarket is emerging as the “last stand” of traditional industrial real estate in the city proper thanks to zoning regulations that prevent large, complex projects and a serious public safety problem.
As areas like South Boston’s Dorchester Avenue and Charlestown’s Sullivan Circle get rezoned into the city’s next big growth areas, and manufacturing properties deep in Dorchester get redeveloped into housing, their occupants are heading to Newmarket.
Businesses like commercial kitchens and construction suppliers are rubbing elbows with microdistilleries, artists and even a few design firms. And all that competition is telling in area rents, which are closing in on $25 per square foot, threatening to push current tenants out.
The life science economy’s seemingly limitless growth potential – and significantly higher property values – could tempt city officials to open the floodgates and let labs and related uses flood in. An added bonus: The value these developments create would likely be tapped to pay for needed stormwater defenses and climate change adaptations in the area, as is happening in the Seaport District.
If Boston’s next mayor can successfully solve the public safety problems in the area and make progress towards reducing the homelessness and substance abuse that helps fuel it, it’s even possible that the area could become a biomedical factory district. With the Seaport and Kendall Square a stone’s throw away and extensive utility service already in place, the area clearly has potential.
At the same time, many Newmarket businesses create decent-paying jobs for city residents that don’t require college degrees as even many biomanufacturing positions do. They also keep Boston’s local economy diversified, helping it better weather unexpected storms.
As they plan the neighborhood’s future, officials at the Boston Planning & Development Agency must keep multiple priorities in mind. The city clearly must allow the area to grow in response to the moment, but in what direction? And what kind of growth will preserve and expand the number of good, stable jobs for the city’s working class?
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